Police Release Journalist Agba Jalingo After Falana’s Intervention

The police in Abuja have released the publisher of Cross River Watch, Agba Jalingo, who was arrested at his residence in Lagos on Friday.

Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters who shared a video of Mr Jalingo’s release on his Facebook page Saturday night, said the FCT police command granted bail to the journalist.

“He’ll be back on Monday. We will never allow impunity to thrive in our country,” Mr Sowore said.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in Lagos State, had confirmed that Mr Jalingo was arrested by the police from Abuja.

“In fact they brought him to our facility in Lagos before going to Abuja,” Mr Hundeyin, a Superintendent of Police, had said.

On Saturday, a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, demanded Mr Jalingo’s “unconditional release.”

Mr Jalingo, the publisher of Cross-River Watch, was arrested in August 2019 for accusing the Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade, of diverting N500 million belonging to the state.

He was charged with terrorism, treasonable felony, and cybercrime, and incarcerated for about 179 days, despite global outrage against the action.

In July 2021, the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja ordered the federal government to pay the publisher N30 million as compensation for his ill-treatment and torture while in detention.

In March 2022, a Federal High Court in Calabar, dismissed the terrorism, treasonable felony, and cybercrime charges against him.